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Clinton sees passage of trade pact with China

WASHINGTON: President Bill Clinton on Monday promised an "all-out" campaign to win Congressional approval of a landmark trade agreement with China, saying it had a good chance of passage despite opposition from labour.

"This is something that is in the national interest ... It should be scheduled for a vote at the earliest possible time, and if we do that, I think we've got an excellent chance to pass it," Clinton told reporters at the White House.

Clinton designated Commerce Secretary William Daley and deputy White House chief of staff Steve Ricchetti to lead the effort to convince the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate to back the trade agreement, which would open Chinese agriculture, telecommunications and a wide range of other markets and clear the way for Beijing to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"We will do everything we can to succeed," Clinton said.

Winning Congress' support for the trade pact won't be easy given the formidable lobbying clout of US labour groups, traditionally allied with Clinton's Democratic party. Vice President Al Gore, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is counting on labour's support at the polls next November.

Emboldened by the collapse of global trade talks in Seattle last month, union leaders have launched their own campaign to scuttle the China pact, and warned that Gore and Democrats in Congress could face a backlash on election day.

Union leaders want Beijing to improve labour standards before joining the Geneva-based WTO, which sets global trading rules. They fear that low-priced Chinese-made goods would flood the US market, costing American workers their jobs, and warn that US companies would take advantage of low-wage Chinese labourers and lax environmental standards.

"We will flood every congressional office with phone calls, letters and visits from our members," said James Hoffa, president of the 1.4-million member Teamsters Union. "We will march on Washington. We will do whatever it takes. And with the momentum from our victory in Seattle, we will win."

But the White House has a powerful ally in corporate America, eager to benefit from a trade agreement that calls on China to cut tariffs on some US goods by 50 percent or more over the next five years.

In return for China rolling back its trade barriers, Clinton must persuade Congress to grant Beijing favourable access to US markets, so-called permanent normal trade relations (NTR) status.

Permanent normal trade relations would guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to US markets as products from nearly every other nation.

Without it, US businesses could not benefit from China's commitment to roll back tariffs and other trade barriers while foreign companies capitalise on China's new-found openness.

"This deal will not change China or our relationship with China overnight," Clinton said. "But it is clearly a step in the right direction, and it is clearly in the short and long term best economic interest of the American working people."

But analysts said labour's success on the streets of Seattle and Clinton's failure to clinch a new round of global trade negotiations would boost labour's leverage on Capitol Hill. Key opponents of the trade pact include the 13-million member AFL-CIO labour federation, the Teamsters and unions representing American steel and auto workers.

White House officials said Daley and Ricchetti planned to meet with other members of Clinton's cabinet to discuss strategy for the campaign and delegate assignments.-Reuters